Debates of Dec. 11th, 2019

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Madam Speaker, the member for Courtenay—Alberni and I have worked together on the veterans affairs committee, and I know he is a passionate advocate on behalf of veterans and their families. It is important to remember as well that their families are a part of this situation.

There are many community groups and veterans advocate groups across the country that are working on the issue of homelessness. I happen to believe that the first priority of any government should be to look after its most vulnerable. We can include a significant and broad range of people, from seniors to veterans, in that category, but the issue of veterans' homelessness is an important one and I was glad yesterday to meet with the veterans ombudsman to talk more about this issue and the work that is going on.

A country cannot look after its most vulnerable unless it has a healthy economy and is competitive, and these depend on revenues that are created as a result of the growth of the economy. That needs to be a priority for the government. Everything else will fall into line. We will look after our most vulnerable, including veterans in this country, if we have a rich country that is sustainable and can be developed for years and generations to come, and we can do that. We can do that without the types of policies that the Liberal government has enacted and continues to enact.

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Barrie—Innisfil for sharing his time with me today. I served many years on council with him. He has been a great mentor to me. I look forward to spending the next four years here together in Ottawa, or maybe not quite four years. We will see how long it is going to be.

As I rise to speak in this 43rd Parliament, I wish to extend my gratitude to the residents of Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, who placed their trust in me to represent them in the House of Commons. It is a great honour to represent the people of Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte in the House of Commons and I commit to represent and help everyone to the best of my ability.

I would also thank my campaign team, especially Matthew Kelman, Marisa Breeze, and the hundreds of volunteers and friends who helped me get elected.

I would also like to acknowledge my predecessor, Alex Nuttall, for the fine work he did for four years, and wish him the best of luck in his new endeavours and in spending more time with his family.

Last but not least, I would like to also thank my wife Lisa and our two sons Wyatt and Luke, who put up with my being away from home for the long hours needed to run a successful campaign and are supporting me in my new endeavours in Ottawa.

At the beginning of the 2019 election, my team and I decided that we would run a positive campaign. Never once did we engage in personal attacks against our opponents. We kept the message clean. We knocked on an overwhelming 70,000 doors during the campaign. One thing we continuously heard from residents was that they were fed up with the constant negative campaigning coming from all politicians.

At the end of the campaign, I believe that all the candidates in Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte campaigned in good faith, and we have all remained on friendly terms because of that. We may have differed on specific policies, but at the same time, we all wanted to make Canada and our communities an even better place to live. Therefore, it brings me great joy that when I come to Ottawa, the buzzwords in everyone's speeches that I am hearing are “co-operation”, “collaboration”, “congeniality” and “teamwork”. The people of our respective ridings elected us to get things done for them, not to bicker among ourselves in Parliament and trade petty name-calling with each other in the media. We must work together across party lines to realize the greatest dreams of the Canadian people.

Climate change was a big issue during the election, and I think there is a consensus among the parties that this is an issue the Government of Canada is going to have to deal with. The environment is a non-partisan problem, and I believe we will be able to find much common ground when it comes to tackling climate change in Canada and abroad. I know we can work across party lines because on October 9, during the election campaign, not two weeks after the Conservative Party publicly announced that it would bring back the Lake Simcoe cleanup fund, the then minister of foreign affairs, now the member for University—Rosedale, came to the shores of Lake Simcoe in Barrie and announced that the Liberals would bring back the Lake Simcoe cleanup fund after cancelling it in 2017. It was great to see the member for University—Rosedale in Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte.

When the Lake Simcoe cleanup fund was created in 2007, Lake Simcoe was in a miserable state. Fish populations and species were dwindling and phosphorus levels were very high, causing destructive algae blooms to prosper and spread.

Since the cleanup fund was created, it has funded over 200 community-based clean water projects and planted over 72,000 trees and shrubs along the lakefront and nearby farmland. It has restored fish and wildlife populations native to Lake Simcoe and reduced the amount of harmful sewage and phosphorus entering the lake. The cleanup fund was a cost-effective, measurable way to improve our environment and combat climate change. It is in the spirit of co-operation and collaboration that I look forward to seeing the funding restored for Lake Simcoe in the upcoming 2020 budget. I look forward to the member for University—Rosedale coming through with her announcement.

We need to stop making easy political decisions. This brings me to the topic of gun control. The words “military-style assault weapons” in the Speech from the Throne were used in bad faith to whip up fear against law-abiding firearms owners in Canada. We don't have a military-style assault weapon problem in Canada: Most of the gun crime in Canada is committed with illegally purchased handguns that have come across our southern border. Just because a handful of criminals commit criminal acts does not mean that politicians should start going after law-abiding citizens.

Fully automatic weapons are already banned in Canada and have been for decades. What exactly is a military-style assault weapon? The Liberal government has yet to define this term. These semi-automatic rifles do not have the same functionality and capacity as the firearms our great soldiers use on operations. At best, anyone using the term “military-style assault rifles” is woefully ignorant, and at worst, they are purposely whipping up public fear to distract from their inability to properly address the problem that exists.

Worst of all is that for all the rhetoric, the proposed new firearms laws will not address the root cause of gun violence, which is gangs, crime and poverty in our major urban centres. The solution to illegal gun crime is not targeting law-abiding farmers and firearms owners; the solution requires getting tough on the criminals using illegal handguns and addressing the root causes.

In Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, there is the Barrie Gun Club. This club has around 1,000 members, and I have to say that these are some of the nicest, most law-abiding people I have ever met. It makes me wonder why the Liberal Party is trying so hard to vilify them and treat them like criminals. This must end.

The government is not only responsible for our public safety but also has a large role to play in the economic lives of our citizens. While knocking on doors, I heard time and time again that times are tough. Essential items are becoming less and less affordable. A shocking statistic is that 46% of Canadians are only $200 away from insolvency. We are currently at a decade-long, all-time high for insolvency. This year, 2019, saw a dramatic increase in bankruptcies for both individuals and businesses. Personal debt is at a record level.

To make things even worse, it was just released last week that in November, Canada lost another 71,000 jobs. I would like to applaud the Liberals for rushing to bring in their middle-class tax cut. It is much needed, but it will not solve the economic situation. All of us here know that we need a strong, healthy economy in order to provide the social safety nets that are essential to those less fortunate.

I would like to relate an incident that occurred during my campaign. One day I received an email at my campaign office from a local doctor who worked in a palliative care unit at Royal Victoria hospital. The email stated that there was a patient in Royal Victoria hospital who would like to meet with a Conservative in the hospital. I had some things on that day, but I dropped everything I was doing and I went to the Royal Victoria hospital to meet with this gentleman, named Antonio. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I thought perhaps he was not happy with his health care, the Conservatives or something else, so I was a little apprehensive. Obviously, if a gentleman is in palliative care, it is something that needs to be attended to immediately.

I dropped everything and went to meet with this gentleman in the hospital. I went by myself. When I arrived there, I walked into his room and introduced myself. He was with his two grown grandchildren. I explained to him that I was running for the riding of Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte. Antonio, who was still of sound mind, explained to me that the reason he wanted to meet with a Conservative was that he had concerns about the state he was leaving Canada in to his children and grandchildren. This was a gentleman in palliative care, on his deathbed. He could have asked to see a clergyman or for his favourite meal or a lot of other things, but he asked to see a Conservative. I went there that day not knowing what to expect, and it turned out to be a call to arms for my campaign.

When I left, I promised him I would do everything I could to win that day. I won my riding, but we were unsuccessful in forming government. To this day, there is still a sign in my office that says “Win it for Antonio”. When times get a little tough, we remember him. I made a promise and commitment to him. After doing that with someone literally on his deathbed in palliative care, I hold that near and dear to my heart and I will never forget that moment.

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Madam Speaker, my two points relate to the economy.

We have heard a lot from opposition members about the 71,000 jobs in November. We would never mitigate what Canadian families are going through right now, but I am hoping that the member opposite will recognize that there has been an overall net gain in employment in 2019 from this government, and it is almost 30,000 jobs. I hope the member opposite will recognize that this has not been a great month for Canadian workers, but overall the job numbers are up.

The second point is about climate change. I applaud the members opposite for talking about the importance of this issue. It is very positive that the opposition benches are talking about the need to move forward. We talked about using Canada's international record. The price on pollution is a way to work in an international framework to put pressure on some of the larger emitters in the world. Why do the Conservatives not believe that a price on pollution would work in an international framework to help the whole international community?

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Madam Speaker, with regard to climate change, the Conservative Party has never considered that putting taxes on people is going to help.

We do not want to tax people who are going to be driving their kids to hockey. I am a hockey coach and am dealing with 17 parents all the time. We do not want to be taxing mothers who are driving their kids to soccer games. We do not believe that is the way to do it.

We believe in technology, and we are going to help the world help that issue. It is not just a local issue. It is a global issue, and we want to encourage companies to create technologies and take it worldwide.

Regarding the economy, 71,000 people lost their jobs recently. The past is the past. The economy is slowing down now and people are starting to lose jobs, and there are 71,000 people who need jobs today. I am hearing about this in Barrie. People are struggling to make ends meet and need to get by. We need to make life more affordable for them.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate my friend and colleague on his election and I welcome him to the House.

I am glad to hear him talk about the environment, especially what is at stake when it comes to our waterways. He lives on the Great Lakes and he knows that I live in coastal British Columbia. As more carbon dioxide is released, we are seeing the greenhouse effect come into play.

As we know, the Great Lakes and the oceans are absorbing about 90% of the heat from the warming planet. We just learned from the report that came out in Madrid from the IUCN that oxygen is decreasing at 2% right now in our oceans, which is putting tuna, marlin and sharks at risk. It is a scary time.

If we do not take aggressive action and have a regulatory body in place to make sure we meet the targets, set out by the IPCC report, to reduce our emissions by 45%, we are not going to be able to save our oceans and our waterways.

Does the member support having an external regulatory body to make sure that we meet those set targets?

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for welcoming me to the House.

The Conservative Party believes that it is a global effect. Global warming is not just in Canada but is going on all over the world. It is not just a local issue.

We are dealing with more local issues in Barrie. We are really going to hold the feet to the fire and are looking forward to the Lake Simcoe fund being reinstated, which is something that the Liberal Party cut back in 2017. We need it reinstated. We need Lake Simcoe to be clean and fresh. It is a driver for our economy in the local area, and we are looking forward to the government bringing back that fund, hopefully soon.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Madam Speaker, it was the Liberals' comments that spurred me to rise and join this debate. It is important to know that there are 100,000 energy workers in Alberta who are unemployed right now. We have seen some really shocking numbers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia on employment. I would like to give the member a quick moment, if he would like, to comment on how dire the job situation is in Canada right now.

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Madam Speaker, Canada was formed on its resource base, and right now our resource base is being hit very hard. There are many people losing their jobs. I am hearing this every day through my former members, especially in the west, who are suffering in the energy sector.

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Sherbrooke, QC]

Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Scarborough—Rouge Park.

This throne speech addresses my priorities.

Canada is an attractive destination for investors. Sure, there are some challenges, such as a labour shortage. During the election campaign, a number of my constituents told me that they have a hard time finding skilled labour. The people of Sherbrooke are welcoming people and they are open to immigration to address the labour shortage and enrich our communities.

When it comes to social challenges, there is no group as large, as diverse and as important in economic and everyday life as women. As we recalled earlier this month the 30th anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre, the status of women in Canada and around the world continues to evolve and continues to be challenged.

It is certainly true that women excel in any and every field that they enter, be it engineering, academia, athletics or politics, to name only a few. However, women continue to face barriers to their entry and advancement in their careers. They have fewer opportunities and wage gaps relative to their male counterparts, and experience verbal and physical bullying and harassment and violence in all forms.

If we really want to tackle the social challenges in Canada and around the world, we must promote gender equality.

With respect to the environment, our government wants to achieve carbon neutrality. To do this, our government made the ambitious decision to put a price on pollution. Furthermore, our government has a clear plan to protect nature and eliminate single-use plastics. Climate change is not specific to Canada. Our government has worked with local and international colleagues on fighting climate change, and it continues to do so.

Our country wants to work with its allies on countering the forces that want to disrupt or destroy the rule-based international order. That is why our government wants to renew its commitments to the international community, in particular its NATO allies.

Given that Canada is a large country with diverse realities, national unity will always be an important issue. We cannot unite the country if we do not work on reconciliation between the Crown and indigenous peoples.

Our government will be taking measures to co-develop and introduce a bill to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We will also continue our work to eliminate long-term drinking water advisories on reserve and we will introduce a bill to ensure that indigenous people have access to high-quality, culturally adapted health care.

As far as economic development is concerned, we are working with our partners and businesses to ensure that Canada is a world leader in creating green technology companies. In the meantime, it is important that we be able to bring our natural resources to international markets and that we support workers in the natural resources sector as we make the transition to clean energy.

Lastly, our government wants to help the middle class and people working hard to join it. We will do so by investing in affordable housing, increasing the Canada child benefit, assisting first-time home buyers, making child care more accessible and more affordable, and increasing benefits to and investments in our seniors.

Our government's throne speech is unifying, which is important to note in view of the current political climate. The throne speech also addresses priorities that are important not only to me but also to the people of Sherbrooke.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Madam Speaker, I have a concern about the part of the throne speech that said the government is going to put more into the mental health of our veterans. I had a veteran call me just this week to say that his wife was receiving psychiatric care, and her doctor informed her that it was good that she came in because the program through VAC was going to be ending in December.

This is funding that is available for family members, spouses and children of veterans who have PTSD. The member may not be aware of this but, because of what went on in the last sitting, an individual who was incarcerated for killing a policewoman has received VAC funding in prison, when there is funding available to him to deal with his PTSD.

The way the government is dealing with this is to shut down the entire program while it creates new criteria, leaving veterans' families in an untenable situation when we already know there are 40,000 backlogged cases in VAC already.

How is it that the government is saying it is going to be doing more for mental health for our veterans and their families in the throne speech when this is the kind of thing that is going on within VAC?

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Sherbrooke, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her intervention.

We reopened several Veterans Affairs offices across Canada. We invested more than $10 billion in our last term. We will always be there for veterans and we will make decisions in their best interest.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased we are discussing the issue of catastrophic climate change and the need to mitigate. There is not a greater symbol of climate in the north than the polar bear. We see in James Bay region where polar bear habitat has been affected.

That is why the work of the Canadian Polar Bear Habitat is so important as a research facility, to give understanding of where we need to go in protecting polar bear climate habitat and also to mitigate the effects of climate change.

In terms of the government's position, are the Liberals willing to support science-based regional opportunities to work to mitigate the effects of climate change, particularly when it comes to something as important as the Canadian Polar Bear Habitat?

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Sherbrooke, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech.

It is important to listen to the voices that are speaking out and asking us to make good decisions for the environment, and that is what our government is doing. It is making good decisions and moving forward.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Madam Speaker, the speech given by my colleague from Sherbrooke was interesting because it reminded us of the government's priorities.

However, there were some things missing. I am thinking about respect for provincial jurisdictions, respect for the environmental protection and land use laws of Quebec and the other provinces, the increase in health transfers, the taxation of web giants and the protection of our farmers through legislation on supply management.

Does she agree with those priorities and why would she not then vote accordingly?

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Sherbrooke, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

Quebeckers are well aware that the government is always working for them and their interests, to move forward on all those issues and to ensure that they are handled in Quebeckers' best interests.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, I would like the member to provide some additional thoughts on the importance of one of our first initiatives, which was to reinforce Canada's middle class by giving a tax break.

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Sherbrooke, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

As we heard in the House, the government proposed a tax cut, an increase in the basic personal amount for all Canadians. That will put a lot more money in their pockets. What is more, the Canada child benefit has lifted many people out of poverty.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am absolutely delighted to be here, re-elected as the member of Parliament for Scarborough—Rouge Park, to speak for the second time in the 43rd Parliament.

I want to begin by acknowledging that we are gathered here on the traditional land of the Algonquin people. I recognize the historical responsibility that rests on this Parliament to advance reconciliation.

I am indebted to so many people who worked so hard to get me elected. Permit me, Madam Speaker, to acknowledge them.

First and foremost I want to thank the voters in Scarborough—Rouge Park, all 31,360 of them, for entrusting me to represent their interests in Ottawa. I pledge to work for everyone living in Scarborough—Rouge Park and I look forward to working for them each and every day.

I want to thank my campaign team: those who knocked on doors, those who cooked for us, those who donated, those who made calls and those who installed signs, cleaned up and did everything to ensure that our message went out to the people of Scarborough—Rouge Park.

I want to thank all my volunteers for their tireless work and our staff for all they have done to support me. I want to thank my campaign manager, Tharani Rameswaran, and campaign director, Gowthaman Kurusamy, for their exceptional work in leading the team to attain the highest margin of any winning candidate in Ontario.

Walking in here last week, I realized the enormous sacrifices we all make to be here. It is an incredible honour to be here each and every day, but there is a cost. For me it is the sacrifice of my family. Every day that I am here I am away from them. I know that Bairavi and Sahanah, my daughters, know more now than they did in 2015 of the work that we do here. In fact, Bairavi was part of the climate action rally and speaks to me about the need to address climate with an urgency. They are the reason I am here, as many members with kids can probably attest, and I am part of a government that makes this world a better place. I cannot thank them enough for all their sacrifices and will work each and every day to ensure that we leave a better future for them.

As many know, Harini, my partner, is my rock. I am so fortunate to have her candid advice, support and unwavering love. I thank Harini.

I wish to thank all members who served in the previous Parliament and to welcome the new ones from all parties who have taken their seats with the determination and resolve to work for their constituents. While I may not agree with their viewpoints on some issues, I pledge to work collaboratively to make life better for all Canadians. I am so excited to be able to work with the Scarborough caucus, all six of us, to advance local priorities for the people of Scarborough.

I am very proud of the Speech from the Throne and the priorities outlined by our government. I know that many of my colleagues have spoken in support of the throne speech, and I agree with all of their sentiments.

I want to highlight some priorities for our government and for me personally in the work I do in Parliament.

Our government fulfilled a commitment to establish the Rouge National Urban Park. It is 79.1 square kilometres and was established fully in the last Parliament. We have a management plan. We will continue to ensure that ecological integrity is front and centre in all the decisions that are made relating to the park.

There are so many organizations that worked hard to establish the park, and I want to thank them for their tireless efforts. We cannot even contemplate the depth and breadth of the park once it fully comes to life. Much of the work has been done in the last five years, but there is much more work to do. For their work and collaboration, I want to thank the Toronto Zoo and the City of Toronto and all the surrounding municipalities for their support in establishing and expanding the park.

As part of our commitment during the campaign, we committed to planting two billion trees. I hope at least a million will be planted in the Rouge National Urban Park.

During the election campaign, there was a recurring theme at the door: Why has our government not moved fast enough to address climate change? Over the past several weeks, I visited several elementary, middle and high schools. Our kids in grades 5, 6, 7 and 8 and in high school kept asking why we are not moving fast enough. They are challenging us to do more. In fact, Canadians as a whole have challenged us to work together to do more to address climate change.

Our government intends to do just that. Building on our climate action plan that places a price on pollution, our government is committed to attaining net-zero emissions by 2050. We will ban single-use plastics by 2021. We will protect 25% of our shores and 25% of our land mass by 2025, and that number will be 30% by 2030. Attaining net-zero emissions will not be easy. It will require enormous commitment from everyone to ensure that we are able to reach this target by 2050.

Finally, I will highlight several very important human rights issues that I have been working on. I will start with Sri Lanka, where recent developments have brought into question the challenges the country is facing.

This year is the 10th anniversary of the end of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka. Last June, Parliament unanimously passed a motion asking the United Nations to undertake an investigation into genocide on the island. Sadly, Sri Lanka has returned a war criminal to power with his cohorts of despotic military leaders, who have sent chills down the spine of civil society actors on the island and worldwide. Now more than ever truth, peace, accountability and reconciliation on the island seem far out of reach.

I am deeply saddened to hear that media personnel are muting their voices and their reporting. It pains me to see lawyers and civil society activists self-censoring and limiting their advocacy. I am shocked to see that embassy staff are intimidated by the Sri Lankan secret service. I am extremely offended that Shavendra Silva, accused of international atrocities, continues to lead the Sri Lankan military. I am stunned that Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was the minister of defence and in charge of the Sri Lankan army forces during the brutal final phase of the armed conflict in 2009, has become its president, and that his brother, who was the president in 2009, is now prime minister. Sadly, respect for pluralism, diversity, tolerance and justice cannot be found on the island.

Sri Lanka and similar countries, like Myanmar, have enjoyed international impunity from prosecution for atrocities committed, and their leaders have come to power notwithstanding their past behaviour. Sadly, a democracy where the rule of law on the island is in shatters, where strict majoritarianism prevails and where the international community has failed to seize its responsibility to prosecute perpetrators of atrocities cannot last forever. While history has taught us that justice may be delayed, I am absolutely certain that similar to what is happening in Myanmar today with the International Court of Justice, Sri Lanka too will face justice.

I work with a number of very important human rights organizations, and I want to highlight the work of the scholars at risk program. There are currently 23 post-secondary institutions in Canada working to support scholars and academics whose lives are at imminent risk. I support the work of SAR and hope we will have an opportunity to support it in this Parliament.

I came to Canada as a refugee when I was 10 years old. For me, the issues of refugees have always been important and at the centre of the work I do. In the last Parliament, like many of my colleagues here, I took part in welcoming refugees from Syria as they landed at our airports. Like many others, we were supporting them.

Today, there are 70 million people who are displaced and 26 million refugees. While we as country have done a lot, there is a lot more we need to do.

The very important unfinished business we have from the last Parliament is the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I look forward to working with all of my colleagues here to implement UNDRIP.

There are many more things from a human rights perspective that I wish to advance in this Parliament. As I said yesterday on Human Rights Day, human rights is not a partisan issue. It involves all of us and is fundamental to this Parliament. I look forward to working with each and every one of my colleagues to advance human rights both locally and internationally.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Speaker, I congratulate my friend and colleague on his re-election.

We heard the Liberals talk about their commitment to tackling climate change, yet we have seen very little action. We are grateful that they mentioned plastics in the throne speech and will do their part in tackling and combatting plastic pollution.

The member joined me in supporting my motion in the last Parliament, Motion No. 151, with a set of targets to tackle plastic pollution. However, the government has been very slow to act. It made a commitment to ban single-use plastics by 2021, yet we have not heard what it will ban. It has not funded organizations like the Coastal Restoration Society on the west coast of Vancouver Island. It is removing plastics, from the streams and rivers, that are infecting salmon. There is still no funding for groups like this.

What will the member do to make sure the government takes real action to combat plastic pollution to protect our iconic salmon, and other species like it and our waterways?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

Madam Speaker, I congratulate my friend from Courtenay—Alberni on his re-election. I assure him that climate change is a fundamental issue this government will advance. We are taking action on a number of fronts, including banning single-use plastics.

I believe today is our fifth sitting day, and in the days and weeks to come we will be bringing forward sufficient examples of how we will address climate change. I look forward to working across party lines to ensure that proper legislation is in place to advance many aspects of our programs.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Humber River—Black Creek, ON]

Madam Speaker, I again want to applaud my colleague for the incredible work he has been doing for the last several years on the human rights file. You have again outlined some of the concerns I share with you on the—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I would remind the member to address questions and comments to the Chair and not to the individual member.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Humber River—Black Creek, ON]

Madam Speaker, thank you for the reminder.

With the great work he has been doing on the human rights file, could the member explain, especially for new parliamentarians, how parliamentarians can exercise their voice and opportunity here in a more effective way to fight for human rights around the world?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend and mentor from Humber River—Black Creek for her ongoing support and her great work in advancing human rights around the world.

As parliamentarians, we sometimes do not recognize the enormous responsibility and path we are given in Parliament to highlight issues that may not be very popular or may not be known. If we look at the history of Parliament, whether in regard to apartheid, fighting racism or fighting sexism, parliamentarians have individually taken incredible action over the years to advance the issues. That is why I invite all of the new parliamentarians to advance issues that are important to them, because many Canadians share those values.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Madam Speaker, I thank our hon. colleague from Scarborough—Rouge Park for the work he did in the last Parliament as parliamentary secretary to preserve our indigenous languages. I worked with our hon. colleague specifically with regard to the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation, our host first nation in the community of Prince George, when our elder, Mary Gouchie, passed and took with her so much knowledge. Our hon. colleague did a lot of work on that so I thank him.

I ask for the same work he did on the protection of indigenous languages. We are going to need a strong voice on that side for our forestry sector and the out-of-work forestry workers in British Columbia. Could I ask for the same tenacity for them?